MAIN COURSE FOR ARROYO, LEFTOVERS FOR LOWLY-PAID GOVERNMENT WORKERS

Submitted by courage_phil on Wed, 12/09/2009 - 00:24.

“Pres. Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo always get the main course while the poverty-stricken
government employees are forced to contend themselves with leftovers,” COURAGE
National President Ferdinand Gaite said today in reference to Press Secretary
Cerge Remonde’s statement that Malacañang will grant the state workers with
‘minimum’ Christmas bonuses.

 

COURAGE, the militant
national center of government employees, emphasized that the bonus will not slightly
help Arroyo in gaining sympathy from the state workers to improve her dismal
performance in recent surveys. “We cannot be thankful to a President who is
responsible in freezing our wages at a starvation level for years. A
significant salary hike is already overdue and the additional bonus will
certainly not appease our clamor for the full implementation of the increases
under the Salary Standardization Law 3 (SSL 3) in 2010,” said Gaite.

 

The leader also
slammed Malacañang’s dilly-dallying in announcing the exact amount of the much-awaited
Christmas bonus. Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Rolando
Andaya, Jr. has earlier issued a statement that the amount will depend on the
year-end savings of the agencies and should not compromise the already unstable
fiscal situation of the government. “The budget deficit cannot be used as a
flimsy excuse in denying the government employees of the benefit that they
rightfully demand. They should not also blame the financial crisis and the
recent disasters for draining the national coffers. Arroyo’s anomalous
spending, as manifested in her luxurious travels and the questionable P1
million New York dinner, has bled the national government millions of pesos. Most
likely, only a minimal portion of the savings will be allocated to the bonuses
of the employees. Ang malaking bahagi ay
masusubi para sa kampanya ng gobyernong Arroyo sa eleksyong 2010,” stated
Gaite.

 

He also aired the
sentiments of the employees in the local government units (LGUs) who are
anxious that they will not receive the full amount of the Christmas bonus. Last
year, the DBM only guaranteed P7000 while the remaining P3,000 were expected to
come from the individual budgets of the LGUs. 
The group claimed that they received reports that a number of employees
from the lower class municipalities only took home P7000, others got the benefit
months delayed while there were some who unfortunately got nothing at all. 

 

COURAGE vowed to
pressure the national government to earmark a substantial amount for the
Christmas bonuses of all government employees. #